Bright Rooms, Dark Corners
by ColorsofaYingYang
Summary: Castle Oblivionn is a boarding school for the 'Gifted', kids with extraordinary talents, ranging from fighting with cards, to healing broken bones, to throwing fireballs. But with every silver lining, there is a black one. And now, a new threat is rising, something much, much more powerful than the monsters in your closet...
1. Chapter 1

A woman walked briskly down the dark, wet street, carrying a covered basket preciously. Overhead, the heavens poured down on her, dripping onto her black hood, sliding down to the ground.  
Probably punishing her for being unfaithful, she thought.  
Turning down another street, she walked a few houses down until she came to one that had the lights on. It wouldn't do to leave her child on the doorstep without someone hearing the doorbell.  
She reached into the basket and withdrew one child, wrapped in a coarse wool blanket. It sleepily blinked, but just went back to sleep without a word. Stiffly, she set it on the doorstep, rang the bell, and hid in the bushes. The door opened, revealing a woman with long, curly brown hair, and warm brown eyes. She gasped and picked the child up, gently cradling it.  
"Who would abandon a beautiful child like you?" She murmered. The woman in the bushes felt water in her eyes and shook it away. It was just the rain.  
A young blonde boy toddled up behind the woman, wrapped in a blue blanket. "Who's it, Mommy?" He asked.  
The woman sadly smiled at the boy. "Meet your new brother," she said remorsefully. She ushered the boy inside and shut the door.  
At least the child would have a good mother and home, thought the woman in the bushes as she crawled out. Better than what I can give.  
She strode down the street again, coming to a second house with the lights on. She repeated the process of taking a child out and setting it down. The child complained, but not very loudly.  
She didn't have to ring the doorbell this time. In fact, she barely got behind a tree before the door opened.  
The woman couldn't see much, but she could hear a man's voice demanding someone named Isaac to take the child to his room. Maybe she hadn't chosen too well. Then she heard a woman's voice, soothing and almost barely audible, and she knew that as long as that woman was there, the child would be okay.  
The door squeaked as it closed, and that was her cue to go. Her final destination was a house at the end of the street. It was tall, and the windows were open slightly.  
As the woman neared, she heard two people talking, a boy and a man. The man was named Arashi, and the boy Zepir.  
She placed the last child on the doorstep, and as she did so, a pain stabbed through her heart.  
Stop it! She thought angrily at the child, who was looking up at her innocently. She walked swiftly away before coming back to ring the doorbell.  
The voices faded from the window as she hid once again. The man she had heard talking answered the door.  
The boy, Zepir, stood behind him. The man picked up the child, turned, and gave it to him.  
"Go to your room," He said gruffly. "We're giving it to the orphanage tomorrow morning." Zepir nodded slowly and carefully carried the child away. The door shut and the woman blinked back tears.  
What was wrong with her?! Why did she have to choose this house, instead of just leaving all three children at the first house? But the damage had been done. Seperating them was the only choice, otherwise they would wreak havoc. Start the apocalypse.  
The woman ran as fast as she could, with no destination in mind except for away. Away from choices. Away from pity. Away from feeling.  
Away.


	2. Chapter 2

Ventus yawned and rubbed his eyes at the bright sunlight pouring in through the open window. It was 6:30 AM on the first day of school, and Ventus wasn't particulary thrilled. But he got up, changed, brushed his teeth, and tromped downstairs. "Good morning!" Tachi chirped happily. Ventus managed a sleepy smile in her direction. "Hey, sleepy," Riku half-smirked, half-grinned at him. Terra turned from the stove. "Good, you're up!" I made pancakes for your first day of school!" It was times like this Ventus was glad they had adopted him.

Sora woke to his adopted brother, Cloud, shaking him. "Hey, wake up!" "Urghhh..." Sora mumbled. "Go away..." "Okay, just be late for your first day of school then," Cloud said. Sora popped up. "Okay, I'm awake!" He shouted a little too loud. Cloud winced and started to chuckle. "All right, sleepyhead. Get ready then." He got off the bed and walked out the door. Sora sighed and started to get ready for his first day of school.

Dora shook Roxas awake. "Get ready, honey," She told him, smiling slightly as Roxas blinked once, twice, grumbled, and then got up. She walked out the door and Roxas jumped out of bed. His adopted brothers, Matthew and Isaac, were already ahead of him. He changed in record time, frantically brushed his teeth, and rushed down the stairs. He ate a piece of toast and ruched out the door just in time to catch the bus.

Ventus stared at the boy rushing to catch the bus. He made it just in time and plopped down two seats in front of him. The boy was almost an exact double of him, down to the hairstyle. Ventus glanced at him and caught his eye. That was the one difference, the eyes. His were a darker shade of blue than Ventus', but you could only tell if you looked carefully. Ventus dropped his gaze and instead looked out the window. But his thought were still on his copy two seats in front of him. His copy, his double, his... His twin. That could be his twin. The boy in the seat next to his waved his hand in front of his face. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked Ventus. Ventus blinked. "Um, what?" "You kinda blanked out there," the boy said. He had the same color blue eyes as Ventus, but his hair was brown, and styled differently. "My name's Sora!" Ventus blinked again. This boy sure was friendly. But he didn't want to appear cold, so he replied, "I'm Ventus. But you can call me Ven." "Okay, Ven!" Sora still had an insanely cheerful grin on his face. It was actually kind of disturbing. He leaned closer. "So, is that your twin?" He pointed towards the other boy. Ventus shrugged. "I dunno. He could be." Sora looked at him. "What do you mean, you don't know? You know your siblings, don't you?" Ventus pondered this. "Well, I have three siblings, Tachi, Riku and Terra. But I'm adopted, so I don't know my real family." Sora beamed. "Cool! I'm adopted, too! I was left on the doorstep by my former mother, and Aerith took me in. But she's dying now." Ventus stared. This insanely happy, cheerful boy had been abandoned? And now his adopted mother was dying? What? "I'm so sorry, Sora," he said. Sora's grin faltered slightly, but it didn't disappear. "That's all right. I'm sorry, too," he replied. But then the smile made a full time reappearance, and Ventus was caught off guard by the genuine light. The bus stopped and the students stood up, determined to get out quickly. Ventus watched his double disappear out the door and walk towards the school. Ventus and Sora got out of the bus safely, walked into the school, and down the hall. Sora stopped at a door marked Rm. 51, Algebra. "So..." he said in his cheerful way. "See ya!" "See ya," Ventus replied, and Sora walked in, a bounce in his step. Ventus turned down the next hallway and stepped in Rm. 32, Language Arts. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.

Roxas was slightly sulking at his desk when someone sat down two seats to the left of him. It was that guy from the bus that looked like him. His copy. Roxas turned away slightly but the guy tapped him on the shoulder. "Yes?" He asked. The guy looked uncertain, but he started talking anyway. "Um, my name is Ventus, what's yours?" Roxas groaned. He didn't need this now. "I don't need to know your name, just go away please." Ventus looked hurt. Roxas quickly adjusted his attitude. "Sorry, sorry. I'm Roxas. It's just that you don't usually meet someone that looks exactly like you on your first day of school." Ventus shook his head. "I don't." Roxas was confused, and that must have shone on his face, because Ventus quickly explained. "I don't look exactly like you. Your eyes are darker." "Oh," Roxas said. Just then the teacher walked in. "Quiet down please!" She demanded. She looked like a weasel, with her pointy nose and her clothes that were made of furs. "My name is Miss Fiona," She said. "And today we will be learning..." Roxas drowned her out. "Sit with me at lunch," He said quietly to Ventus. He nodded and directed his attention back to the teacher, who was now discussing how they were going to be reading 45 minutes a night. Roxas had never been more content in his life.


	3. Chapter 3

After 4th period, Ventus hurried down the halls to the lunchroom. He spotted an almost empty table and sat down, feeling out of place. A few more people sat down, including Riku, Terra, some guy with bright red hair, another guy with spiky blonde hair, and two blonde kids that looked like twins. Sora bounded over and plopped down. History is soooo boring..." he complained. Then he noticed the spiky haired blonde. "Oh, hey Cloud!" "Hey, Sor," he responded. "Who's this?" "Oh yeah, Ventus, this is Cloud, my brother! Well, technically adopted brother. Cloud, this is Ventus, but you can call him Ven." Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Hi, Ven." Ventus smiled slightly. "Hi, Cloud." Cloud broke out into a grin. Just then Roxas plopped down in the seat next to Ventus like Sora had done a few minutes ago. Everyone stopped talking, except for the two twins, who hadn't spoken at all. "What?" Sora immediately introduced Roxas to Cloud, and vice versa. Cloud smirked and stated, "I think I'm going to like this kid." Similarly, Ventus introduced Riku and Terra to both Sora and Roxas. And Roxas introduced the two twins as his adopted brothers, Matthew and Isaac. They just nodded and went back to eating their sandwiches. Fire engine head looked up. "Not talkative, huh?" "What's it to you?" Roxas asked, glaring defensively. The redhead smirked. "The name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" "Well, mister A-X-E-L, I'm Roxas, if you must know," Roxas said. He started a heated discussion with the redhead.

Sora marvelled at how similar Ventus and Roxas looked. Side-by-side, they were the same. Same hair, same smile, although Roxas' was more rare. Same skin color, not too pale but not too tan. Their eyes were different, though. Roxas' was more dark, while Ventus' was a light turquiose. Sora was biting into an apple when, suddenly, there was an explosion, scattering dust and debris everywhere. The fire alarms started ringing.

Coughing, Ventus rubbed dust out of his eyes and located everyone at the table. Sora was frozen, apple halfway in his mouth. Roxas had grabbed Axel's hands, Cloud, Terra and Riku were under the table, and the twins Matthew and Isaac were still eating their sandwiches. Ventus grabbed everyone and dragged them out the door where there was a large crowd and a half-full bus in the round-about. Fortunately, the crowd wasn't rushing towards it, so Ventus managed to drag everyone onto the bus. They collapsed onto the seats. The murmur of conversation was growing steadily louder. A guy with a blonde mullet peered over the seat at Ventus. "Hey, I'm Demyx!" He reminded Ventus of Sora. "Ventus," Ventus said. "So, do you know what happened in there?" Demyx asked. "I barely got my guitar out!" "No idea," Ventus shrugged. Demyx gave a grin Ventus thought had ben unique to Sora. "Aw well. Nobody knows," he said. Then his head disappeared as he sat back down on his seat. A few more kids got on the bus. One was a guy with long, slate-colored hair covering approximately half his face. The other two were girls; one had light blonde hair, the other red, but they seemed like twins. The guy sat down with extremly good posture next to Demyx. He brought out a book, and, keeping good posture, started to read. The girls took the last completely empty seat and started whispering to each other, sneaking glances at Axel and Roxas. Ventus had a suspicion he knew who they were talking about. The bus roared to life and started out of the round-about. Ventus felt something was wrong, but he couldn't quite place it. Then two things hit him. One: There was no one driving. And two: The bus was not hitting any bumps. ANY bumps. They were levitating.


	4. Chapter 4

Roxas woke up on a pristine beach, dotted with occasional clumps of Marram grass. In front of him there was a large, shining white castle.  
He didn't really remember falling asleep. All he remembered was Ventus shouting something about how the bus had no driver, and that they were levitating. Had it all been a dream?  
Suddennly Roxas had the urge to blink. So he did. And in that split second, Sora, Terra and Axel appeared right out of thin air.  
"What the-" Roxas said, before he blinked again. The rest of the people from the bus appeared, looking just as confused as he did.  
As everyone looked around at the beauty of the island, the white gates of the castle creaked open. When nothing happened, everyone relaxed, not realizing they had tensed up in the first place.  
Sora, being the extremely brave and happy person he was, walked over to the gates. Cloud tentatively followed, and with him, the rest of the group.  
The castle was white on the inside, too. It was probably made out of pearl, or marble. The place had a radiance about it, like the walls were made out of pure light. They walked down the hall and into a giant crowd and an even bigger room.  
Like the hall, the room was a dazzling white. It was huge and had a large stage in the front with fourteen people standing on it.  
"Welcome!" The figure at the microphone boomed. "Welcome to Castle Oblivionn!" The crowd cheered particularly loud at this. There were men, woman, teenagers, and young children. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, just enough so the white of the room was not overwhelming. The crowd quieted.  
"Welcome, new initiates," said the person at the microphone. He was dressed in a long white coat with small black flames. The hood was up so no one could see his face. "I am the Matchmaker, principal of this school."  
"Here in Castle Oblivionn, we train people with Gifts. Magic. These people are called many things. Gifted. Demigods. Adepts. Wizards. But we all are crushed under the boot of society. Which is why we have created this safe haven. This school is safe from the prying eyes of humanity and the destruction of so-called science. Here, we are safe. Here, we are free. Here, we are eternal!"  
The crowd roared again. The thirteen people on the stage stood and took off their hoods.  
"Ahem." The Matchmaker said. Everyone went silent with anticipation.  
"Listen up, new initiates! These fine people shall be your mentors. Treat them with as much respect as you would me."  
"Of the lower-class members: Seth." A large, muscular African American man waved half-heartedly, then sat down.  
"Diadra." A woman with long green hair stood. She did not wave, making it clear that she was not happy being called lower-class.  
"Lark." A teenaged boy shifted from foot to foot nervously. He had chocolate brown hair and seemed very graceful and delicate.  
"Fiona." The others gaped as our teacher stood. She was still wearing her furs and her pointy nose seemed even more so than usual.  
"I must be dreaming," Roxas muttered. Axel choked back a laugh at that.  
"Isabelle." A tall woman dressed in a red and black dress stood and grinned, baring small fangs.  
"And Emmett." Another African American man planted his feet firmly on the ground. Like Seth, he was also muscular, and had fine black fur all over his body.  
"And of the upper-class members: Coryn." A girl stood. She had white hair and looked a combination of both frail and athletic.  
"Laertes." A brown-haired man stood. He had handsome features, but a cold look.  
"Arianna." A firey haired woman stayed sitting, but waved nonchalantly at the crowd.  
"She could be your mother," Roxas whispered again to Axel, causing him, again, to snort and try to hold back laughter.  
"Vex." The teenage boy who stood had short green hair. There was a tattoo of a scorpion on his right arm, and his eyes were a piercing violet.  
"Zepir." A blonde boy stood. He had olive green eyes and his hands were trembling slightly as he waved.  
"Lucille." A girl with long blonde ponytails stood and waved energetically.  
"She seems like Sora's type," Ventus murmured into Roxas' ear.  
"Oh yeah," Roxas murmured back.  
"And last, but not least, Glass!" Another boy stood. He had dark hair and brown eyes. He waved, but his expression was cold.  
The crowd parted to make way for the Matchmaker, followed by the thirteen mentors.  
"Newcomer's, follow us to the intitiation cycle. Everyone else, stay and have a good time!"  
Music started playing as the Matchmaker led the group away from the party. They followed the Macthmaker to a large white door.  
"Step inside and make yourselves comfortable. We'll be taking the students one-by-one."  
Roxas stepped inside and sat down. The rest of the group followed.  
There were couches in the room, of course, and a large black-framed mirror covering one wall, but other than that the room was bare.  
One of the members, Glass, was it? called out,  
"Evan Halvard."  
A boy with scruffy brown hair stood. Glass took him over to the mirror. He murmered something in Evan's ear and touched the inside of his wrist. Then Evan stepped into the mirror.  
Wait, what?  
Roxas could see Evan actually in the mirror. He turned left and disappeared from view.  
Some people panicked, but Glass told them Evan was fine, he couldn't get killed. Hurt, maybe, but the pain wouldn't be real. Evryone calmed.  
Several minutes later Evan reappeared, looking shaken. There was a long but thin red scratch on his left arm, and in his right was a grey stone. He took his seat again.  
A few more people Roxas didn't know went into the mirror, and returned. There was a redheaded guy named Silver, some guy named Percy Jackson, and the twin girls from the bus that Roxas learned were named Namine and Kairi.  
Finally, it was Roxas' turn. He went over to the mirror.  
"LIsten, and remember," Glass said. "When you get inside, you will have two paths. Choose the one that feels right."  
"You will go through a labyrinth that will test your strength, endurance, and emotions. It is specifically designed to find your element. When you reach a room, there will be a boss. You will have to defeat it, or you will fail."  
"Your weapons will be these." Glass tapped the wristbands on Roxas' wrists. One was black, one was white.  
"They will activate once inside. The rest will be up to you."  
Roxas' nodded, somewhat getting it. Glass gestured for him to enter the mirror.  
He did.


End file.
